(By: Tim Baltz)
(Photo Credit: Dylan Terry)
It was a night of history on Whitesboro Plowshop Night at the Can Am Speedway this past Friday. The first ever Can Am Speedway Hall of Fame Class was inducted at the speedway.
The Thurston Family who ran the speedway from 1975-2000. The family’s vision transformed Can Am into a cornerstone of Northeast Dirt Racing and their legacy continues to the present day. Lee Gill was the tracks first flagman on opening day in 1974 and became one of the winningest car owners in track history he also supported the speedway and many competitors with sponsorship and advice along the way. Bill Eisele, former Late Model track champion, saw the growth of the speedway from day 1 and made several contributions to the track, including being the pace car driver weekly for over 30 years. Gary Reddick a legendary driver in the North Country carved his own path to history at Can Am, by becoming the first ever Modified champion in 1975 winning 6. Reddick won 9 times overall before retiring in 1981. Also racing legend Barefoot Bob McCreadie was inducted. McCreadie won 34 feature events from 1975-2005. Bob also won milestone races at the speedway, including the 100th Modified race in 1980 and the 600th event in 2004. All inductees were awarded with a commemorative plaque on the front stretch, created by Jeff Stevenson out of Watertown.
When racing got underway the 15 lap Donath Motorworx Limited Sportsman feature took to the track first and Hayden Howard was looking to get his first ever win as he grabbed the lead early over Cayden Graham and Mike Durham. Howard had another fast car and was looking to close the deal, but a caution waved on lap 7 bunching up the field. On the restart Howard was able to get away while Graham and Durham continued their battle for the runner up spot. Over the final 8 laps Hayden Howard was the fastest car on track and would finally put it all together for his first career Can Am win. Cayden Graham crossed in second ahead of Mike Durham, Brianna Murtaugh, Jay Reid and Jason Rarick.
Andy Howard took the lead at the start of the 25 lap Whitesboro Plowshop DIRTCar 358 Modified feature with Lance Willix and RJ Tresidder hanging on to top three spots. Willix began to put the pressure on the leader and would make his way to the lead on lap 5, but on the charge was Billy Dunn. After starting 9th, Dunn worked his way to second and closed quickly on Willix for the lead. On lap 12 the yellow flew for Matt Caprara, who slowed on the front stretch. When the green flew, Dunn went to work as he got by Willix for the lead as points leader Tim Fuller charged to third around RJ Tresidder. As the laps clicked off Billy Dunn pulled away to a big lead while behind him Willix and Fuller would continue their battle for 2nd, which Willix would keep at the finish. In the end Billy Dunn would notch win number 5 on the year and 75th of his Can Am Modified Career. Lance Willix, Tim Fuller, Shaun Shaw and Jackson Gill rounded out the top 5.
Round number three for the Action Sprint Tour for the Panther Frameworx Crate Sprint Cars invaded Can Am. George Sanford drew the pole and took the lead over Josh Verne Jr and Andrew Hennessy. Sanford had one of the fastest cars on track but Verne was keeping the leader close in the early laps. By the halfway point both Sanford and Verne pulled away for the rest of the field, establishing themselves as the drivers to beat. On lap 16 the yellow flew for Adam Turner, who slowed while running 5th. On the restart Sanford stayed in front but Josh Verne Jr. changed his line and began to run down the race leader and made several challenges for the top spot. As the laps clicked off Sanford was doing everything to hold off the 4 time track champion. The final yellow flew on lap 24, setting up a 1 lap shootout for the win. On the final restart George Sanford would grab a comfortable lead and march on to his first ever Action Sprint Tour win in his first ever series start. Josh Verne Jr. crossed second with series points leader Liam Martin scoring his third straight top 3 finish on the tour. Ken Klinkowsky won the B Main and charged from 21st to 4th with Bruno Richard 5th.
Gage Howard led the start of the 20 lap Bob Johnson Auto Group DIRTCar Sportsman feature with Camdin Cook right there with him. Howard led the opening 5 laps but Cook was working hard to get by, but Richard Murtaugh was also on the charge to the front, with Gavin Eisele, Jessica Power and Keegan Nier also moving forward. On a lap 7 restart following a quick yellow, Camdin Cook took over the lead with Murtaugh and Keegan Nier on the move to 2nd and 3rd. All three drivers were fast and moved in on the leader to make it a three car battle. A quick yellow on lap 12 for a spun Greg Henry, brought the field together for a restart, that Richard Murtaugh would take full advantage of. When the green flew, Murtaugh battled with Cook, eventually taking control of the race on lap 14 and looked to have the race in hand, however nobody expected what was about to happen next. On lap 18 the yellow flag flew, but while under that caution, track lights went out leaving the field and the fans in total darkness. A near 20 minute delay resulted in full lighting restored and the field ready to go back to green. On the final restart Richard Murtaugh pulled away and scored his second win of the year and second of the week, having won a DIRTCar Sportsman Series race at Land of Legends on Wednesday night. Following Murtaugh were Camdin Cook, Gavin Eisele, Jessica Power and points leader Tyler Stevenson, who overcame several problems all night to grab 5th at the line.
Tony Frezzo took the lead early in the 15 lap Sundance Leisure Thundercar feature to close out the night. On the move was 7 time winner Jock Symonds, as he charged from 6th on the grid to take the lead on lap 4 from early pace setter OJ White. Symonds would build up a straightaway lead but several late yellows slowed the race, giving all drivers a chance at the lead. When the final green flag flew jock Symonds moved out front, but Tony Frezzo was making a late race charge to the front of the field. However on this night, Jock Symonds did it again as he scored his 8th win of the season. Tony Frezzo, Jared Gilson, OJ White and Collin Bauter rounded out the top 5.
Next week it’s the ever popular Christmas in July at Can Am. The Eastern Ontario Vintage Stock Car Club will be on hand for their only appearance of the season, featuring the cars of the 50s and 60s, along with the cars of the 70s and 80s. Also on the card will be the Whitesboro Plowshop DIRTCar 358 Modifieds, Bob Johnson Auto Group DIRTCar Sportsman, plus the Panther Frameworx Crate Sprints and Donath Motorworx Limited Sportsman. Gates open at 5pm, Santa Claus will be there at 6pm. The first green flag flies at 7pm.
To keep up with what is happening at Can Am Speedway in 2026 stay tuned to our website at racecanam.com. Also give us a follow on our Facebook page and be sure to follow us on My Race Pass for the live timing and scoring at all events. Can Am events will be broadcast weekly on Dirt Track Digest TV.
Whitesboro Plow Shop DIRTcar 358 Modified
—
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 49-Billy Dunn[9]; 2. 31-Lance Willix[5]; 3. 19-Tim Fuller[7]; 4. 7S-Shaun Shaw[11]; 5. 60-Jackson Gill[10]; 6. 18W-Scott Webb[13]; 7. 21R-RJ Tresidder[2]; 8. 91-Josh Reome[15]; 9. 57H-Remington Hamm[6]; 10. 17-Tyler Meeks[16]; 11. 23-Cameron Black[14]; 12. 39T-Taylor Doxtater[17]; 13. 36B-Dan Beachard[3]; 14. 11-Genavieve Bartlett[12]; 15. 47-Brent Cross[18]; 16. (DNF) 11C-Matt Caprara[8]; 17. (DNF) 21-Andrew Howard[1]; 18. (DNF) 45R-Preston Forbes[4]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 21-Andrew Howard[1]; 2. 19-Tim Fuller[6]; 3. 49-Billy Dunn[7]; 4. 21R-RJ Tresidder[2]; 5. 60-Jackson Gill[8]; 6. 7S-Shaun Shaw[5]; 7. 18W-Scott Webb[9]; 8. 91-Josh Reome[4]; 9. 39T-Taylor Doxtater[3]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 31-Lance Willix[4]; 2. 36B-Dan Beachard[2]; 3. 45R-Preston Forbes[3]; 4. 57H-Remington Hamm[5]; 5. 11C-Matt Caprara[6]; 6. 11-Genavieve Bartlett[1]; 7. 23-Cameron Black[7]; 8. 17-Tyler Meeks[8]; 9. 47-Brent Cross[9]
Hot Laps (3 Laps): 1. 49-Billy Dunn, 18.554[7]; 2. 21R-RJ Tresidder, 18.892[15]; 3. 7S-Shaun Shaw, 18.919[14]; 4. 18W-Scott Webb, 18.990[16]; 5. 11C-Matt Caprara, 18.997[4]; 6. 91-Josh Reome, 19.008[13]; 7. 17-Tyler Meeks, 19.061[12]; 8. 45R-Preston Forbes, 19.114[8]; 9. 36B-Dan Beachard, 19.261[2]; 10. 23-Cameron Black, 19.275[3]; 11. 60-Jackson Gill, 19.329[10]; 12. 21-Andrew Howard, 19.348[11]; 13. 11-Genavieve Bartlett, 19.761[1]; 14. 31-Lance Willix, 20.506[17]; 15. 47-Brent Cross, 20.510[5]; 16. (DNS) 39T-Taylor Doxtater; 17. (DNS) 19-Tim Fuller
22 entries
Bob Johnson DIRTcar Sportsman
—
Feature (20 Laps): 1. 33-Richard Murtaugh[8]; 2. 14-Camdin Cook[4]; 3. 18-Gavin Eisele[7]; 4. 52-Jessica Power[12]; 5. FOX28-Tyler Stevenson[17]; 6. 17-Owen Nier[18]; 7. 34K-Keegan Nier[10]; 8. 34-Eric Nier[11]; 9. 9-Logan Brown[15]; 10. 44-Mason Rogers[13]; 11. 18G-Justin Gadbaw[14]; 12. 18E-Billy Eisele Jr[19]; 13. 21-Gage Howard[1]; 14. 1D-Paul DeRuyter[16]; 15. 90-Caleb Howard[6]; 16. 2-Greg Henry[2]; 17. 29-Kyle Hafemann[20]; 18. 54-Brady Howard[5]; 19. (DNF) 621G-Trevor Gibbons[3]; 20. (DNF) 92-Frank Sibley[9]; 21. (DNF) 9B-Gregory Gould[22]; 22. (DNS) 10-Karl Comfort
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 33-Richard Murtaugh[4]; 2. 14-Camdin Cook[2]; 3. 90-Caleb Howard[3]; 4. 21-Gage Howard[1]; 5. 44-Mason Rogers[6]; 6. 1D-Paul DeRuyter[5]; 7. 18E-Billy Eisele Jr[8]; 8. 9B-Gregory Gould[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 2-Greg Henry[1]; 2. 34-Eric Nier[6]; 3. 92-Frank Sibley[4]; 4. 54-Brady Howard[2]; 5. 18G-Justin Gadbaw[3]; 6. FOX28-Tyler Stevenson[5]; 7. 29-Kyle Hafemann[7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 18-Gavin Eisele[3]; 2. 621G-Trevor Gibbons[1]; 3. 34K-Keegan Nier[5]; 4. 52-Jessica Power[6]; 5. 9-Logan Brown[4]; 6. 17-Owen Nier[2]; 7. 10-Karl Comfort[7]
Hot Laps (3 Laps): 1. 33-Richard Murtaugh, 19.819[15]; 2. 34-Eric Nier, 19.919[16]; 3. 52-Jessica Power, 20.126[19]; 4. 10-Karl Comfort, 20.175[2]; 5. 44-Mason Rogers, 20.203[20]; 6. 54-Brady Howard, 20.205[12]; 7. 92-Frank Sibley, 20.219[21]; 8. 9B-Gregory Gould, 20.230[9]; 9. 14-Camdin Cook, 20.262[3]; 10. 621G-Trevor Gibbons, 20.289[8]; 11. 1D-Paul DeRuyter, 20.339[4]; 12. 34K-Keegan
Nier, 20.385[17]; 13. 9-Logan Brown, 20.742[1]; 14. 90-Caleb Howard, 20.831[13]; 15. 2-Greg Henry, 20.963[11]; 16. 18E-Billy Eisele Jr, 21.076[5]; 17. 29-Kyle Hafemann, 21.238[10]; 18. (DNS) 18-Gavin Eisele; 19. (DNS) 18G-Justin Gadbaw; 20. (DNS) 21-Gage Howard; 21. (DNS) 17-Owen Nier; 22. (DNS) FOX28-Tyler Stevenson
32 entries
Panther Frameworx 602 Crate Sprint Cars
—
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 25-George Sanford[1]; 2. 1V-Josh Verne Jr[2]; 3. 9-Liam Martin[8]; 4. 30-Ken Klinkowsky[21]; 5. 72-Bruno Richard[4]; 6. 271-Tiger Chapman[17]; 7. 87-Andrew Hennessy[3]; 8. 51-Lee Ladouceur[14]; 9. Z28-Tucker Donath[5]; 10. 36C-Mark Webb[6]; 11. X-Josh Vanbrocklin[24]; 12. 16X-Keegan Baker[13]; 13. 77-Liam Ladouceur[18]; 14. 26X-Campbell Baker[23]; 15. 24K-Kiana Teal[16]; 16. 96-Tyler Lafantaisie[20]; 17. 53-Logan Shwedyk[11]; 18. 89N-Chris Neathers[10]; 19. 92-Adam Turner[9]; 20. 71R-Rachel Zacharias[22]; 21. 24-Kody Graham[12]; 22. 14W-Kyle Wilson[7]; 23. 16-Anthony Fiorentino[15]; 24. 74-Will Fisher[19]
B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 30-Ken Klinkowsky[3]; 2. 71R-Rachel Zacharias[2]; 3. 26X-Campbell Baker[1]; 4. X-Josh Vanbrocklin[7]; 5. 2X-Mike Amell[5]; 6. 4-Emma Donath[10]; 7. 9C-Brian Nanticoke[4]; 8. 21L-Eric Laurendeau[6]; 9. M52-Marc Surprenant[9]; 10. 2-Travis Hofstetter[8]; 11. 133-Matthew Moore[12]; 12. (DNS) 20-Johnny Miller
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 36C-Mark Webb[1]; 2. 89N-Chris Neathers[2]; 3. 25-George Sanford[6]; 4. 271-Tiger Chapman[3]; 5. 74-Will Fisher[5]; 6. 30-Ken Klinkowsky[7]; 7. 2-Travis Hofstetter[4]; 8. M52-Marc Surprenant[8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. Z28-Tucker Donath[2]; 2. 9-Liam Martin[3]; 3. 16X-Keegan Baker[4]; 4. 1V-Josh Verne Jr[7]; 5. 77-Liam Ladouceur[6]; 6. 26X-Campbell Baker[8]; 7. X-Josh Vanbrocklin[5]; 8. 133-Matthew Moore[1]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 72-Bruno Richard[3]; 2. 53-Logan Shwedyk[1]; 3. 16-Anthony Fiorentino[2]; 4. 92-Adam Turner[7]; 5. 96-Tyler Lafantaisie[4]; 6. 71R-Rachel Zacharias[8]; 7. 2X-Mike Amell[6]; 8. 4-Emma Donath[5]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 87-Andrew Hennessy[4]; 2. 24-Kody Graham[1]; 3. 51-Lee Ladouceur[3]; 4. 14W-Kyle Wilson[8]; 5. 24K-Kiana Teal[7]; 6. 9C-Brian Nanticoke[5]; 7. 21L-Eric Laurendeau[6]; 8. (DNF) 20-Johnny Miller[2]
Hot Laps (3 Laps): 1. 30-Ken Klinkowsky, 17.681[12]; 2. 92-Adam Turner, 17.886[27]; 3. 72-Bruno Richard, 17.892[22]; 4. 9-Liam Martin, 18.062[17]; 5. 36C-Mark Webb, 18.139[30]; 6. 71R-Rachel Zacharias, 18.202[32]; 7. 87-Andrew Hennessy, 18.211[10]; 8. X-Josh Vanbrocklin, 18.213[28]; 9. 1V-Josh Verne Jr, 18.226[29]; 10. 16X-Keegan Baker, 18.252[3]; 11. 53-Logan Shwedyk, 18.288[24]; 12. 4-Emma Donath, 18.334[5]; 13. 271-Tiger Chapman, 18.390[4]; 14. 51-Lee Ladouceur, 18.452[13]; 15. 89N-Chris Neathers, 18.458[21]; 16. Z28-Tucker Donath, 18.487[6]; 17. 25-George Sanford, 18.553[23]; 18. 74-Will Fisher, 18.579[8]; 19. 96-Tyler Lafantaisie, 18.629[15]; 20. M52-Marc Surprenant, 18.671[25]; 21. 77-Liam Ladouceur, 18.678[14]; 22. 2X-Mike Amell, 18.712[1]; 23. 24K-Kiana Teal, 18.731[26]; 24. 21L-Eric Laurendeau, 18.751[16]; 25. 24-Kody Graham, 18.755[9]; 26. 26X-Campbell Baker, 18.771[2]; 27. 16-Anthony Fiorentino, 18.774[7]; 28. 9C-Brian Nanticoke, 18.839[20]; 29. 133-Matthew Moore, 18.969[19]; 30. (DNS) 2-Travis Hofstetter; 31. (DNS) 20-Johnny Miller; 32. (DNS) 14W-Kyle Wilson
6 entries
Sundance Leisure ThunderCar
—
Feature (15 Laps): 1. 8X-Jock Symonds[6]; 2. 22-Tony Frezzo[5]; 3. 22J-Jared Gilson[3]; 4. 94-OJ White[2]; 5. 19-Collin Bauter[4]; 6. 428-Colby Hibbard[1]
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 22J-Jared Gilson[4]; 2. 94-OJ White[3]; 3. 428-Colby Hibbard[1]; 4. (DNF) 19-Collin Bauter[2]; 5. (DNF) 22-Tony Frezzo[5]
Hot Laps (3 Laps): 1. 19-Collin Bauter, 24.382[1]; 2. (DNS) 22J-Jared Gilson; 3. (DNS) 428-Colby Hibbard; 4. (DNS) 94-OJ White
6 entries
Donath Motor Worx Limited Sportsman
—
Feature (15 Laps): 1. 21-Hayden Howard[1]; 2. 31G-Cayden Graham[3]; 3. 6-Mike Durham[4]; 4. 33B-Brianna Murtaugh[5]; 5. 45-Jay Reid[2]; 6. (DNF) 4-Jason Rarick[6]
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 21-Hayden Howard[2]; 2. 45-Jay Reid[3]; 3. 31G-Cayden Graham[4]; 4. 6-Mike Durham[5]; 5. 33B-Brianna Murtaugh[6]; 6. 4-Jason Rarick[1]
Hot Laps (3 Laps): 1. 31G-Cayden Graham, 20.270[2]; 2. 21-Hayden Howard, 20.525[3]; 3. 45-Jay Reid, 20.771[6]; 4. 4-Jason Rarick, 21.473[5]; 5. (DNS) 6-Mike Durham; 6. (DNS) 33B-Brianna Murtaugh
